A shrunken Life
by MConanfan0327
Summary: Witnessing a murderer she wasn't supposed to see, Kazuha finds herself hiding with Conan and Haibara. Investigating THEM with Conan she's finding it harder to keep her identity a secret.
1. prolouge

This is my first fanfic, so please read and review please.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan.

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Prolouge

Kazuha walked down the sidewalk. She bit her lip as she looked down at her watch . Damn, it was already five;forty. Her mom told her to be home by six o'clock. Kazuha looked around, there was nobody in sight. Sighing, she pulled out her cell phone to call a taxi when she passing a dark alley.

Kazuha stopped when she heard a whimper emitted from the alley turning her head towards to caught sight of the three men. They were all wearing black. One was pressed against the building by some black cylinder thing, holding his hands up in some defensive manner. The man against the building had a medium build, about a head taller than her, brown hair and had a petrified expression on. The two men standing in front of the petrified man, one was short, buffy, wearing a black hat and sunglasses. The other was tall, wearing a black trench coat, a black hat, and had long silver-blond hair. The silver-blond hair guy was holding the black cylinder thing.

Wait, that's gun, Kazuha realized.

There was a bang.

The brown haired man slumped to the floor lifeless. Kazuha took a step back dropping her phone, trying her best not to scream. Unfortunately she screamed drawing attention to the two men who had turned towards her. Kazuha froze at the silver-blond hair man's killer gaze.

Kazuha quickly tried grabbing her phone but her phone was shot into pieces by the gun in the silver-blond hair man's hand. Kazuha's mind was screaming at her to run. And run she did until her foot got caught in a crack in the sidewalk, her body tumbled onto the hard cement. She heard footsteps coming her way, Kazuha scrambled up when she felt the barrel of a gun on the back of her head.

"Don't move." A harsh, icy cold voice commanded.

The voice sent shivers down her spine. She felt the but of the gun hit her head, nearly knocking her out. Kazuha heard one of the men say "Vodka" before the buffy man dragged her into a different alley away from the corpse.

The silver-blond man squatted down besides her grabbing her hair yanking her head up. "Now you know the consequences of running away." The silver-blond hair man dully stated, slipping a pill and some water down her throat.

Kazuha heard the men leave before a sensation rushed throughout her whole body. Her heart felt like exploding as her body grew hotter by the second. So this is what it feels like to die, sorry. This was her last thought before her vision plunged into pitch-black darkness.


	2. Chapter 1

Sorry I took forever to upload, well here is the first chapter of the story. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan.

Enjoy Chapter one!

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Conan, Ran, and Kogoro arrived at Hattori's house to find Hattori pacing endlessly in his front yard. It seemed that Hattori did not noticed their arrival especially since he looked deep into thought. Deciding to capture his attention, Conan ran up to him and loudly chirped, "Hi Heiji-niisan!"

Hattori looked up or rather down in Conan's case and looked unsurprised. "Ku-Conan," Hattori corrected himself as he remembered Ran was standing right there, "You guys are here, come inside, we'll talk about it in there." Hattori's voice seemed sad instead of his usual cheeriness.

Hattori started to lead them inside the house.

Conan regarded his Osakan friends with concern. The disappearance of Kazuha must've hit him hard. Conan knew for a fact that he and Ran won't be able to comfort him. His disappearance had hit Ran hard and there was practically nothing he could, until he gets a cure, about except to call her once in a while. But he could hardly ever do that anymore!

Walking towards the entrance of the house, Conan felt the eyes of somebody watching him. He moved to the right side of the yard staring directly at the woods behind Hattori's house. Conan clicked a button on the side of his frames to zoom in. Zooming in more, Conan distinguished a little girl about seven or eight years old on a high branch of a tree. She appeared to be saying something. Conan zoomed in as best a he can on the girl's moving mouth. 'Co-Co-Con-Conan-Conan-kun-Conan-kun'. Conan-kun! That's what the girl is saying but wait. How does this girl know his name or him at the least?

A nagging feeling in his mind told him that he already knew her. Conan zoomed out a little bit, to see the girl doing hand gestures to come there, to her.

"Conan-kun. What are you doing?" Ran softly asked him jerking him out from his intense staring at the woods and turned to face her, clicking the button to zoom out.

"Uh nothing Ran-neechan. Oh Ran-neechan, I forgot I told Haibara I'll get her something once I got here. Is it okay if I go and get it now before I forget again? Thank you, bye." With that Conan ran despite Ran's protest. He ran out of Hattori's yard, running around Hattori's house to get to the woods. A horrible feeling swelled deep inside in him, that feeling telling him that if he doesn't meet up with this girl now that he'll regret it and that he'll never see her again as in there would be another corpse to investigate.

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A sense of relief washed over Kazuha when she knew Conan saw her but the relief had left her as quickly as it overcame her. How could she possibly be able to explain her situation to an actual seven year old? Yeah, Conan might be incredibly bright at his age but no matter how you see it, Conan is still a kid. Kazuha breathed in and out. Maybe, hopefully, Conan would actually listen to her and not think that's she's insane.

Kazuha listened to her surroundings, she heard some birds chirping, knowing that is nearing noon, distant traffic and nothing else. Maybe Conan didn't come after all. Kazuha sighed. She had got her hopes too high. Way too high. She should of known the chances of Conan coming will be low.

Then, Kazuha heard the leaves below on the floor of the woods crunch and crackle. Kazuha looked down and squinted, trying to look past all the leaves in her way from looking down. After several moments of trying to look down, Kazuha decided it was pointless and carefully started climbing down. Reaching the lowest branch, Kazuha saw Conan standing there.

"Co-," Kazuha started but paused at her hoarse voice. Kazuha coughed clearing her throat before trying again, "Conan-kun!"

Conan whipped his head towards Kazuha, a bit startled. Kazuha bit her lip. Okay, she now has his attention, but how is she supposed to explain this to him? Kazuha mentally sighed, well here goes nothing.

Kazuha opened her mouth to explain but only to be cut off by Conan, "Who are you?"

Kazuha was taken back by the dangerous tone in his voice. Kazuha remained silent as Conan repeated the same question with an even darker tone.

"Kazuha. I'm Kazuha, Toyama Kazuha. Please believe me Conan-kun." Kazuha squeezed her eyes shut, too afraid to even see Conan's reaction.

A long moment of silence passed by as Kazuha gained the courage to open one eye. Upon seeing the shocked face of Conan, a feeling of regret swelled within Kazuha.

"Kazuha? Toyama Kazuha? Is that really you?" Conan asked, his voice shacking a little.

Kazuha opened the other eye and nodded. The look of hatred and anger collected itself on Conan's usually calm face. "How? Tell me how." Conan practically commanded her.

Kazuha couldn't help at the fear rising within her. Kazuha had never Conan like this before. Kazuha waved her hand in a gesture 'to come here' to Conan. Seeing the understanding in Conan's eyes, Kazuha waited patiently for Conan to climbed up.

Upon seeing the tiny kid hand much like hers, Kazuha scooted back a little. Once Conan finally got up onto the branch and got situated, Conan leaned towards Kazuha growling quietly at her, "Tell me how."

Kazuha braced herself and spilled about everything that day she was harshly given the mystery pill, to Conan. Kazuha gripped her tiny hands around the tree branch watching Conan. Oh, she knew this is a bad idea. Conan is going to think that's she's insane and everything is going to go downhill from there. What Kazuha wasn't expecting was for Conan's face to morph into absolute anger and hatred.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Conan swore.

"Co- Conan-kun..." She trailed off. Kazuha wasn't expecting Conan to react like this at all.

Conan suddenly looked at her with piercing eyes. "Damn, this just complicates things." Conan said with a slight groan, running a hand through his hair.

"What do you mean?" Kazuha asked.

"A long and complicated story," Conan sighed, "Now I have to figure things out, plan, and pull some strings."

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh yeah, I haven't officially introduced myself."

"Again, what are you talking about?" Kazuha asked again. Conan was making her feel more at loss and confuse than ever.

Conan looked at her with honest eyes. "My name is Kudo Shinichi, pleasure to meet with you."

Kazuha's jaw dropped. How was that possible? A million of questions exploded in her mind right there. "H-how?" Kazuha finally managed to croak.

Conan- no Shinichi's eyes literally burned with absolute hate. "The same way you did and by that exact same man."

"W-what?" Kazuha gasped.

Conan let out a long sigh and told Kazuha about the day he was poisoned. "... and now I'm living as a seven year old kid, trying to get my body back and bring them down."

After Conan finished, Kazuha's jaw was touching the branch. Kazuha simply couldn't believe it, the story was just outrageous. Then again, she was shrunk herself and her story was just as insane. Kazuha regarded Conan, unsure what to say or react at Conan's next words. "I will tell you more information later, but more importantly. We need to figure out how things are going to work out with you."


	3. Chapter 2

I am so sorry for not updating! It's been what, about more than a month since I last updated. I really have no excuse expect for that I've been having computer problems. My laptop charger refuses to to charge my laptop and the main computer at my house, the mouse doesn't work and I don't how to use a computer without a mouse. The last time I tried to do that, I froze the computer. So sorry about that. Well, this chapter is just mostly talking, not much movement.

I don't own Detective Conan.

Enjoy chapter two~

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"Haibara." Conan said.

"What is it Kudo-kun?"

Conan sighed, knowing what is going to happen next. "We got another victim of the aptoxin."

"What?" A near scream crackled over the phone. Then her voice dropped to a soft whisper, "who?"

"Toyama Kazuha. You know, Hattori's childhood friend."

"Oh, that girl? And, exactly how did she get poisoned?" Haibara's voice seemed cold and annoyed.

Conan glared at the phone held in his hand. He gave up glaring at the cell phone, knowing she wouldn't be able to see him in the first place and sighed. "About the same way as myself."

"From that man?" Conan could feel the fear from Haibara transporting itself over the phone.

"Yes, it was Gin who had poisoned her." He sighed once more.

"Where are you two right now?"

"In the woods in Osaka. Toyama-chan is currently changing into some of my clothes."

"Figures. Do you have any idea if you two can get back to Tokyo asap?"

"I don't know. I have to make a valid excuse as in why I suddenly have to be back at Tokyo. Well, actually that might be the easy part, convincing everyone. What's going to take some time would be getting Hattori off my tail, explaining who Toyama-chan is. Oh, by the way,do you have any alias` for Toyama-chan, since I suck at making false names?"

There was a pause before Haibara spoke," How about Nishiwashi Mariko?" Haibara suggested.

"Toyama-chan, are you done changing yet?" Conan asked Kazuha.

"Yeah, you could turn around now." Kazuha replied.

Conan turned to face kazuha dressed in his clothes. She was wearing light faded denim, a green striped shirt with a light blur, light jacket. And her black hair were down to her shoulders. If Conan hadn't known better, he would of passed her as a tomboy.

"How do you like the name Nishiwashi Mariko?" He asked her.

"Nishiwashi Mariko...? No, not really." Kazuha answered.

Conan lifted the cell phone back to his ear. "She said she didn't like the name. Anything else?"

"Hmm, let's see..." Conan put on speaker so Kazuha could hear. "Um, Watabe Amatarasu?"

Kazuha shook her head. "No."

"What about Nakamoto Kamiko? Do you like that name? Haibara asked.

Kazuha lifted up her head so she'll be looking at the sky. A finger on her chin, in deep thought. "Yeah, I like it. It's very pretty."

"Okay, I'll tell Hakase, so he'll start working on you, your background, etc." Haibara said.

Conan turned off the speaker and spoke to Haibara, "Hey, we have to figure out where she is going to live. I was thinking she'll live with you since I really doubt Oji-san would apperciate another kid living in his house." Conan suggested.

Suddenly, Kazuha spoke," Wait a minute. Can't I live here in Osaka?"

Conan fiercely shook his head, "No. Who are you planning to live with?"

"My family. I could tell my parents my situation, and since my dad's a police officer, he and the police could take down the orgizanation down." Kazuha explained.

"BAKA!" Conan and Haibara yelled together at Kazuha, Haibara yelled loud enough to be heard over the phone without the speaker their yell, Kazuha visibally winced.

"The police must not know about the orgizanation at all! It's too dangerous. And you can't tell your parents either since it will be very likely they will get the police involved and that would create disaster. Actually, not just your parents, nobody at all. The only people allowed to know of your existence at all would be me, Kudo-kun, and Hakase. That's all. Do you understand?" Haibara yelled.

Kazuha cringed, not expecting to be yelled at. "Y-yes. I understand." She whispered.

"Good. Oh, and also it would be very convienent if we all lived near each other, so if something happened to happen suddenly, we wouldn't have to worry about the chibi girl living all the way out in Osaka." Haibara added.

"Okay, we'll be there in a bit, Haibara." Conan finally spoke, hanging up. "Come on, Kamiko-chan, or would you rather prefer for me to call you Nakamoto?"

"Kamiko is fine." Kazuha answered.

"Ok, Kamiko-chan. Now, time to get back to Tokyo." Conan said.

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AN: OK, from now on I'm going to refer Kazuha as Kamiko. I'm sorry again for not updating and for advance too, it will probably take some time to get the third chapter updated. And to answer a question, Hattori will know about Kazuha being shrunk, but not until later into the story. I'm going to make him suffer for a while. So, please review! They help me very much and I like them very much!


	4. Chapter 3

AN: Oh, god, I'm late. I'm so sorry I didn't update earlier. Darn you school's cursed homework! And thank you for those who reviewed. IMPORTANT NOTE, READ THIS: Yes, Hattori will end up knowing about Kazuha being shrunk, but not till later in the story. Later. For those who was curious about that, your question is now answered and I won't say when he'll find out. And now I hope you enjoy the third chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Detective Conan.

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Conan knocked on the door, waiting for someone to answer. Conan looked up when the door opened, to see Hattori's torned expression.

"Ku-Conan. Where did ya' go?" Hattori asked in a suspicious tone yet a lost one as if he had lost everything he held dear.

Conan opened his mouth to give out his excuse but Ran came behind Hattori and beat him to it. "Conan-kun, you took an awfully long time. Did something happen?" She asked with concern.

That was the cue. Conan put on his childish mask and looked up at Ran with I-got-lost-please-don't-hurt-me-I-didn't-do-anything-wrong face. His blue brilliant eyes became wide and sad. Conan put his head down ashamed, as if he were about to start crying(if he had to). "I didn't know what store I'm supposed to go to get the thing for Haibara. So I got lost trying to find it. Then when I got to the store, the store was very crowded." Conan said, his voice cracked, like he was on the verge of crying.

Ran sighed in relief, probably relieved that he didn't got his nose stuck into another case again. "Well, at least you're safe and sound." Ran said, trying to grab Conan's hand to bring him inside the house.

Instead of grabbing onto Ran's hand, Conan pulled his hand back, startling Ran. "Conan-kun." Ran said softly, shocked by Conan's sudden behavior.

"Gomen Ran-neechan. Um, Ran-neechan, I need to go back to Tokyo." Conan quietly asked her, though loud enough for the two to hear.

"Tokyo?" Hattori and Ran repeated, making sure if they heard correctly. When Conan nodded, Ran immediately opened her mouth to ask, "why", but Conan interrupted her. "Since I didn't know what store to go to, I called Haibara. When she answered, I noticed her voice sounded weird, so I asked her what's wrong. Haibara told me that she was sick. And I am really worried about her. She didn't sound too good. I really want to check up on her and see if she's okay." Conan cried out, concern dripped on every word.

"Ai-chan's sick?" Ran repeated. Conan nodded with wide eyes.

"I see that you're very concern about her but..." Ran trailed off, looking at Hattori.

Conan mentally sighed when he saw her looking at Hattori. Conan looked at Hattori's hurt expression. Dammit. He already has to deal with the pain of hurting Ran and now Hattori too. He really did not want to tell Hattori, he felt like if Hattori knew about what happened to Toyama, Hattori will explode and he won't hear the end of it.

Conan blinked as he thought of another reason he could use to "help" Hattori for when he goes back to Tokyo. "Shounen Tantei!" He called out, snapping the duo's attention towards him. "We the detective boys can help find Kazuha-neesan and bring her back to you, Heiji-niisan." Conan jumped up and down enthusiastically. He smiled.

Ran smiled. Conan knew that Ran, her father, and the police knew that once the detective boys find a case, they'll solve the case no matter what. Even though, it's mostly Conan ending up solving the case.

Conan knew that Hattori knew very well that he was lying. Conan is always trying to get the kids out of cases. So that's why Hattori is currently narrowing his eyes at him right now. Conan chuckled quietly.

Ran's smile left her face and a frown of worry replaced the lost smile. "Even though, I don't want you to go back to Tokyo by yourself. It's too dangerous." Ran pointed out.

"Don't worry. I won't talk to any strangers. I promise. I'll be safe. I'll call you once I get to Tokyo. Oh, and Hakase will pick me up from the train station." Conan promised.

Ran stood there deciding if she should let Conan go or not. She finally spoke. "I guess you can go."

"Thank you Ran-neechan."

"Hey, neechan. How about I take the kid ta' the train station an' ya' stay here, okay?" Hattori suggested.

"Are you sure?" Ran questioned.

"Yeah."

"Okay... Be safe Conan-kun, Hattori-kun." Ran said before going back inside.

As soon as Hattori stepped out of the house and closed the door, Conan already made it across the street, continuing to move ahead. Even though he did like hanging out with Hattori, this time he didn't want the Osakan with him. Unfortantly, his wishes went unheard as the said Osakan grabbed the back of his jacket and lifted him up into the air.

"Okay, now since neechan's not here. Can ya' tell me what the hell is going on? As in where did ya' go an' why the hell do have ta' go back to Tokyo?" Hattori yelled at him.

"What do you mean? I _did_ go and got the stupid thing Haibara wanted and Haibara _is_ sick. And I am truly worried about her." Conan lied partly. He did went and got the stupid name brand purse, but Haibara wasn't really sick though. But Hattori didn't need to know that.

"Quit lying. And tell me the truth already an' what is this all about getting the detective boys ta' find Kazuha.? I thought ya' hate having those little kids getting themselves mixed into cases." Hattori snapped.

"I'm not lying. I am worried about her. And your right about me hating getting those innocent kids mixed into cases. I just used them as an excuse to get back to Tokyo. As hell, I would get them involved in Toyama-chan's case."

"Then tell me why you have ta' go back ta' Tokyo?"

"I already told you. I'm worried about Haibara's health."

"Ya' more worried about her than Kazuha's disappearance?" Hattori asked him softly, hurt visibly showed in his eyes and voice.

Conan looked down, his bangs covering his eyes. He remained silent. The guilt of lying to Hattori about this, his heart felt like it got stabbed multiple times and was left to bleed. But Conan refused to show his aching pain to the world.

Hearing the silence of Conan, Hattori realized that Conan was completely serious, "Uso," Hattori muttered as his body shook. Hattori dropped Conan to the ground roughly. "I can't believe ya' being serious."

"Hattori..." Conan trailed off.

"Does Kazuha's disappearance not matter ta' ya' at all? It does not matter ta' ya' that she might be injured, or in danger, or might even, might even be...?" Hattori closed his eyes and hands into a fist as his body trembled.

Before Conan could get a word out, Hattori continued, "Go. If ya' gonna be a coward an' let a case go unsolved, especially when ya' friend is involved directly in the case, then go. We don't need a coward detective. No, not even a detective, just a coward. Go." Hattori coldly said.

Still with his head down, Conan turned so his back faced Hattori. "I'm sorry Hattori. I'm so very sorry. I'm afraid I can't tell you...yet." Conan said softly, with the last word hardly audible.

And with that, Conan ran, feeling a pair shocked eyes lingering on him. Conan continued running until he knew if Hattori had followed him or not. Conan breathed in relief when he knew Hattori hadn't followed him. Conan pulled out his "Conan" phone and called a taxi.

He slipped the phone back into his left jean pocket, Conan stuffed his hands into his jeans pocket and leaned against a small supermarket. There were a slight breeze in the cool air. Clouds began to gather, darkening the happy blue sky to a gloomy gray sky. It was a sad day to begin with.

Conan looked up, seeing a yellow taxi right in front of him. The window of the driver seat slid down, and a face of a man in his mid-thirties, with high cheekbones, light brown eyes, and dark brown hair. "Edogawa Conan, right?" The man asked.

Conan gave a short nod, as he gently pushed himself off the wall. Conan walked towards the taxi and simply entered the vehicle without a problem.

The taxi driver turned to face him. "Where is ya' destination?"

Conan looked out the window before adverting his eyes to the kind man. "Osaka train station."

The taxi driver nodded and the car came to life as it started to move. Conan sighed. He sometimes wondered why his life has to be so damn complicated? But he knew better than to question himself about that because he already knew the answer. And that was entirely his fault. But Toyama-chan got dragged into this mess by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. She honestly shouldn't have to carry the pain of hurting Hattori, or anybody in that matter, and the possibility of endangering her friends and family, on her shoulders. Conan shooked his head to get rid of these emotional thoughts.

Twenty minutes later, the taxi came to a stop. Conan lifted his head up at sudden stop. "Were here." The taxi driver called out.

"Uh, ah. Thank you. Here you go." Conan said, pulling out some money, then handing the money to the taxi driver. Conan got out of the car. his eyes scanned the busy station for Kamiko. He walked forward a bit until he caught a glimpse of his clothing to the far right of where he stood. He jogged over to Kamiko, who he caught off guard as kamiko jumped, whipping around so fast, he could feel the wind slashing his face, Kamiko readied to defend herself.

"Hey, calm down. It's just me, Conan." Conan told her.

"Sorry, you just scared me. Popping out of nowhere like that." Kamiko apologized.

"Don't worry. It's fine. Come on."

Right after Conan paid for the tickets, they walked to the platform, waiting for the train to come. Conan felt Kamiko's eyes staring at him. He turned his face to face her. He raised his eyebrow in question. Kamiko quickly looked down before shyly looking up. "Um, h-how was He-" Kamiko started but was cut off by Conan.

"He's... upset and sad. He got very mad at me for leaving a case, this case about you, to go back to Tokyo worrying about my sick my friend instead of you. But otherwise, he's worried as hell about you though." Conan explained.

"Oh." Kamiko quietly said.

At that, Conan gave her a small sad smile. "Don't worry. Look, our train is here." Conan said, hoping his voice didn't betray him and showed any depressing emotion.

Kamiko nodded and grabbed Conan's hand and practically dragged him into the train. And once they got to their seats, Kamiko let go of his hand and dropped down onto her seat. Conan looked more closely at Kamiko's face. She looked dead tired, and she must be from practically living in the woods for what, a couple of days now. Conan started at her with some sympathy. Kamiko, Kazuha, she has a lot more shit to go through. A large amount of emotional and physical pain she'll have to go through in the near future. Conan kept his eyes on her as he sat down, and watched her fall asleep. 'It seems like Lady Luck doesn't want to favor either of us,' Conan thought.

* * *

AN:I hope y'all enjoyed this and I hope it wasn't too short either. Literally, a piece of my heart broke when I was writing Heiji's scene with Conan. Just to say, I don't hate Heiji, I love him actually. I hope he wasn't too ooc. But remember, his best friend disappeared. I would be crying if my best friend mysteriously disappeared like that. Though, I'm not really too happy about the ending, I felt like it was too rushed, but that's my opinion. Again, thank y'all for the reviews. Please review, I want to know what y'all thought of this chapter and anything I need to fix. Oh, one more thing. Should I make the first time ever(I haven't read any so far and I can't find one either)Shinichi x Kazuha(ConanxKamiko) or should I keep it HeijixKazuha for the pairing?


	5. Chapter 4

Shrunken Kazuha Ch.4 (I do not owe Detective Conan)

Oh, my God, I'm so sorry I haven't updated in what like two months. Geez, I kept ya'll waiting for this long. So sorry. The only excuse I have is that I have school and all. But really, I get distracted so easily. So please enjoy this chapter and I should have the next chapter up soon.

* * *

Kamiko slowly opened her eyes when she felt two hands on her shoulders, shaking her. She found herself staring into bright blue orbs. Two orbs behind fake lenses. "Conan-kun, what is it?" She asked him.

"We're here." Conan replied.

Conan released her and she got up onto her feet, blinking when she realized that the train was still. "Already?"

Conan nodded, giving a small affirmative grunt. "Yeah, you slept through the whole ride."

Kamiko brought her hands up and rubbed her eyes, stifling a yawn. "I must've been tired, ne?" kamiko stated, dropping her arms back to her side.

Conan briefly nodded, already walking to the exit of the train. Kamiko quickly followed him, but then lost him when a crowd of people entered the train, blocking her sight of him. Kamiko pushed her way through the many pairs of legs before finally getting off the train. Once she straightened herself, she looked for Conan.

She found Conan waving at her to come towards. Which Kamiko did exactly that. She jogged over towards him getting there in less than a minute.

"Come on, Hakase and Haibara is waiting." Conan told her, which caused her to frown at him.

"Hey, Conan-kun. Wait a minute. Stop running off like that."

Conan stopped and gave her a sly grin. "Sorry about that, I would rather not keep Haibara waiting."

Kamiko tilted her head to the side slightly but when seeing the sweat drop on the side of Conan's face, she decided to drop it. Kamiko followed Conan through the traffic of people and finally saw a yellow beetle car parked. They walked up to the yellow car and Conan peered in the window. His appearance must've caught the car's occupants' attention. The passenger door opened and a small girl with auburn hair stepped out. Kamiko recognized her as Haibara Ai.

When Kamiko felt the stern gaze on her from Haibara, she suddenly felt slightly nervous. She had no idea why, but something about the girl's stare made her feel off-guard. But that shouldn't be the case since Haibara-chan is younger than her right?

"So this is my new test subject?" Haibara asked, her voice malicious.

Kamiko's eyes widened at the word "test subject". She stared at Haibara with slight fear. "Test subject?"

Conan rolled his eyes. "Stop scaring her Haibara."

Haibara sent a glance at Conan and gave a small shrug. "Hmm, she'll understand soon enough."

Conan gave Haibara small glare before grabbing Kamiko's hand and took her inside, to the back seat of the car. Haibara followed shortly, but instead sitting in the passenger's seat.

Once seated in the back seat, Conan pulled out his "Conan" cell phone as the beetle drove off. "Hold up for a sec. I have to call Ran and tell that I'm here." He said, to no one in particular. Conan held the phone next to his ear, waiting for Ran to pick up.

After three rings, Ran picked up. "Hi Ran-neechan. I'm back in Tokyo and with Hakase like promised." Conan told her in his childish voice.

Kamiko tuned out Conan's conversation on the phone. Instead, she paid her attention to the two in the front of the car, Hakase and Haibara. She wondered how and why did they know about the B.O. She first thought that they knew because of Conan. But something felt off with Haibara. To her, it seemed that the only reason why Hakase knew was because of Conan, but Haibara; it felt like, for some reason, that she knew because of a different reason entirely. She had a feeling she'll know the reason later, so she'll have to be patient for now.

She heard a gentle snap, and she looked at Conan to see that he finished his call looking somewhat dejected. Wait a minute, Kamiko's mind reverted back to all those time Ran mentioned about how much she missed Shinichi and all. And Conan is Shinichi…

"You're the one who's breaking Ran-chan's heart." Kamiko exclaimed clearly without thinking.

Kamiko then felt two had stern glares on her, one from Conan and the other from Haibara. Conan stopped his glaring and gave out a sigh. Conan nodded. "Unfortunately I am, even though I hate it, but it can't be helped. I can't tell her about me shrinking or about them at all or she'll be dragged into this mess and be in danger. I can't have her be in danger.

"There are times I want to tell her, but I can't no matter how much I want to. I do see her cry over me but what can I do. Nothing. I don't mean to be act like this to her, to lie to her and all. And before you go all defenses and everything about it, you're not allowed to tell Hattori about this either." Conan explained.

At this, Kamiko gaped at him. "What do you mean; I can't tell Heiji about this?"

Three sighs resounded in the car. Before Conan could respond Haibara spoke, "Because that hot-headed-kun will fume when he knows that you shrunk to a little kid and do something rash. We can't afford that; we cannot be caught by _**them**_." She told her through her teeth.

"D-demo…" She tried protesting.

"No buts. Even though Hattori knows who I am, he has a terrible time keeping my shrinking a secret. Imagine you, to him, you are more than a friend to him, his reaction will be anything but good or necessary." Conan explained.

Kamiko knew she wasn't going to win this and dropped her head, realizing the truth. She couldn't tell Heiji about this, she felt her heart slowly starting to break. The car stopped and Kamiko picked up her head seeing that they were there. Kamiko got out of the car and followed the others inside the house.

"But speaking of Hattori, everybody is worried about you. We're going to have to make an excuse as in why you left. But not now." Conan declared once they entered the large house.

Kamiko briefly nodded, and kept her head down. What excuse can she give? Unlike Kudo, she can't say she's on a case. What can she say that will convince everyone that she's safe and doing well? A sigh escaped her lips as she thought about everybody she loved and cared about worrying about her and she has to deceive them.

"How exactly did you get poisoned Toyama-chan?" Haibara inquired.

Kamiko looked up to see Haibara's stern face staring at her with cold eyes. "Oh, I was walking home from a day from shopping, and then I saw Gin and his partner Vodka kill a man in an alley. I kind of screamed and got their attention. I tried running away from them but I tripped and they caught up to me and fed me a poison, leaving me in a dark alley. The next thing I knew, I woke up as a child an' I panicked. I ran to the woods behinds Heiji's house and hid there for a couple of days. I couldn't gather up enough courage to present myself to them. Then Ran-chan came, I got Conan-kun's attention, and here I am now." Kamiko clarified.

Haibara scanned Kamiko before giving a sly shrug. "Well, you're stuck like this until I can make an antidote." Haibara stated.

"Wait, you're gonna make the antidote? But aren't ya' a child?" Kamiko questioned.

This earned her two death glares. "You really think I'm just a mere child?"

"Kind of…"

"Well, I'm not. I'm eighteen. I got shrunk too." Haibara clarified.

Kamiko's eyes got wide at this. "How did you get poisoned?"

Haibara smirked, and then it dropped. "No, actually, I fed myself my mistake."

"You're mistake?...You don't mean you're the one who made the apotoxin?"

"Indeed I did."

Kamiko stared at her in disbelief. She couldn't believe that one; Haibara had created the apotoxin and is only eighteen. And two; that Haibara took her own poison. Kamiko opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

Seeing this, Haibara opted to speak, "It's a long story…" Haibara told Kamiko her story, about how she worked for the B.O and about creating the apotoxin. Conan took over when it came to Haibara's sister's death and everything after that. Conan then proceeded telling her everything involving _**them**_ that he knew about. Kamiko listed to every word, processing everything she's been told about. She couldn't help but widened her eyes slightly when Conan told her about Hattori's involvement. So Heiji knows about _**them**_ and Conan. No wonder why he kept calling Conan "Kudo".

"Wow, that's… mind-blowing really." She commented once Conan finished.

Conan gave her a guilty look. "Well, you better get used to this; this is going to be your life from now on until Haibara can make a permanent cure."

Kamiko looked down as if the carpeted floor became very interesting. She had to accept it, no matter how she didn't want to. "Yeah, I understand." She whispered. Kamiko looked up when Haibara spoke.

"With that in mind, do you know what you're excuse for leaving is?"

Kamiko blanched. She had totally forgotten about that. She didn't have a clue on what her excuse could be. Taking the silence as an answer, Haibara sighed then smirked. "I have an idea of what you could give."

Kamiko blinked, an uneasy feeling crawling inside her.

* * *

Hattori stared at wooden floor of his home as if it had all the answers that he was searching for. Another sigh escaped his lips. He missed Kazuha, and he would do anything to get her back to him. But that was the problem, he didn't know where Kazuha went, if she's in trouble or not. Though, he guessed that she got into some trouble since she hadn't called anybody telling where she had gone.

Hattori observed everybody in the room. They all sat around the table. He sat at the right end of the table, his parents and Mouri Kogoro sat at the side of the table left to him and Neechan and Kazuha's parents sat across them. They were discussing Kazuha and her sudden disappearance. They all were at a lost. It wasn't like Kazuha to disappear like this and not tell anyone. And what bothered them even more is that nobody could find her at all! Hattori felt deeply muddled. There were no clues for where she could have gone, and it's driving him crazy as in that he couldn't find anything that will lead him to her.

Speaking of disappearances, Kudo left in such a hurry. He got here than gave an excuse leaving for easily almost an hour, then came back telling them that he had to go back to Tokyo. It was awfully too suspicious. Remembering their conversation, Kudo's words had stroked him in shock. Did Kudo know something about where Kazuha had gone too? If so, then why didn't he tell him? He knew that Kazuha meant a lot to him, so why? A little while ago, Neechan informed them that Conan made it back to Tokyo safely and is with Hakase. Hattori frowned. He wondered why was Kudo acting so weird.

Hattori jumped into the air as a sudden vibration ran though him. A soft melody started to play and Hattori grasped his cell phone out of his pocket and answered. He knew that melody, Kazuha picked this ringtone especially so he'll know when she's calling him. "Hello, Kazuha?" He shouted into the phone hoping that it would be her and no one else.

Receiving all the curious gazes on him, he put it on speaker phone for the rest to hear. "H-hey Heiji." Kazuha's voice filled the room. Everyone jumped to their feet at the sound of her voice.

"Kazuha, where are you, are you alright, are you hurt or anything?" Hattori demanded, though the concern showed visibly in his voice.

"No, I'm fine, I'm not hurt or anything. And I'm at…" she trailed off.

Hattori gripped the phone like if he strangled it more it would give him the answer he desired. "Where are you Kazuha?" Kazuha's father demanded.

"Daddy?" Kazuha gasped; clearly she wasn't expecting her parents or at least her dad to be there. Hattori frowned as he heard another voice whispering over the phone, he couldn't tell the gender or estimate the age of the other speaker.

"Well, actually, a few months back, I met this guy; we started talking then got close. We started dating and for a while now. He was going to go on a world tour and offered for me to come with him. I agreed to go with him, so I'm with him right now." Kazuha explained.

There was slight pause before Hattori, both of Kazuha's parents and Neechan yelled, "What?!" Before Hattori could get a word out, Kazuha's father spoke; anger crawled out on every word. "Kazuha. Who is this boy? And how did I know nothing about this?"

"Well, he's a college graduate and we kept it a secret so we wouldn't get into any trouble. Sorry for not telling you."

"Sorry is not going to cut it. You say sorry to that boyfriend of your and get back here this instance. Actually bring your boyfriend back here, I want to meet him." Kazuha's mother strictly told her.

"Actually, that would be a problem; we are out of the country right now." Kazuha said.

"What?" Kazuha's mother screamed.

"Yeah…"

"Kazuha, what is this boy's name?" Her father asked.

"…"

"Kazuha." Her dad warned.

"Sorry, I-I don't want to say."

"Why not?" Kazuha's mother asked.

"I… just because I don't want to." Was Kazuha's reply.

"Kazuha, why didn't you tell me any of this?" Hattori accused her.

"H-Heiji, sorry. But don't worry, I'm fine. I'll call when I can. Bye." With that Kazuha hanged up and Hattori stared at the phone, frozen. Kazuha called him, told them that she had a boyfriend and went on a tour around the world with this unknown boy, that she refuses to tell them who exactly he is. Though something felt off and Hattori couldn't exactly pin down what it could be.

Hattori felt his heart tore at when she mentioned "her boyfriend". He couldn't help but feel a tiny bit jealous and dejected. Though he knew he could be as dense as Kudo (as much as hated to admit it) but since Kazuha went missing, he felt something stronger towards her than at their level right now, best friends. He couldn't exactly pin down this feeling, but all he could say is that this phone call had him feeling so, so rejected.

Hattori slumped down to his knees. His mother put a hand on his shoulder gently but he ignored her. The only thing in his mind was that Kazuha had a boyfriend and left with him and the rejected feeling he felt. It couldn't escape his mind and Hattori doubted it would ever. A sorrowful sigh left his lips quietly.

* * *

AN: Please don't kill me for putting Hattori through this, I didn't mean this. The idea came to me and I asked my sister what she thought of it, if I should do it or not. She called Kazuha a rebel and told me that I should totally do it. And I did. Anyway, I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading and being patient with me.


	6. Chapter 5

A Shrunken Life Ch.5 (I do not own Detective Conan)

A/N:I meant to post this on the last chapter but I forgot to. What I wanted to mention is that the paring of this story is HattorixKazuha. For those who wanted ShinichixKazuha, I do plan making a one-shot, maybe even a story, maybe, for them. If you have any ides for what I should for that, please tell me, I would love to hear your ideas.

Enjoy.

* * *

In a dark room, the only light available was the light of the computer screen. A dark chuckle quietly rumbled throughout the room. If one could see well enough in the dark, they would see a woman with blonde hair sitting down, holding a picture of a little girl, the woman smiled to herself as if she were amused at the sight of the little girl.

The woman set the photo down onto the table and began to type. "Dear Gin, it seems like we have found ourselves fighting another one, a gun in fact. This gun holds power; we don't want it to fall into the wrong hands, do we now?" The woman said as she typed with a smirk. With a swift movement, she hit sent.

She leaned back in to her chair and grabbed the photo once more, regarding it intently. The little girl in the photo was about seven years old and she wore light blue jeans, a green striped shirt, and a blue jacket. And she had black hair that fell to her shoulders.

"Yes, indeed. The only gun strong enough to fire the silver-bullet." The woman smirked.

* * *

Kamiko gawked at the building that stood before her. Never since she had been shrunk had she thought she'll have to go through this again. But she should have seen the signs, Conan, Haibara, the detective boys. "Ya' have to be kidding me. I have ta' repeat elementary school?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, unfortunately you do. Trust me, I didn't want to either, but I had no choice," Conan replied, glaring at the building as if it were hell itself, ready to torture him in any moment. "I swear I lost some of my brain cells due to this place."

Kamiko hung her head. Today was Monday, of course a school day. They had spent the weekend buying her clothes, and other stuff she needed, and Hakase also got her files, and story all set. Apparently he also enrolled her in elementary school, much to her discomfort. Kamiko lifted her head when Conan spoke.

"Don't worry, we had put you in the same class me and Haibara are in."

Kamiko smiled at that. At least she'll have Haibara and Conan with her instead of being alone with actual little kids. Kamiko nodded.

"Well, with that said, I'll see you later." Kamiko watched Conan and Haibara enter the building with their backpacks on their backs. She gave a small sigh and reluctantly entered the school building after them.

* * *

Conan sat at his chair while the detective boys chatted around him. Haibara sat next to him with a bored expression on her face. "Hey Conan, have you heard about the new student?" Genta's voice ringed in his ears.

Conan looked up to see Genta looming over him. "New kid? Yeah…"

"What do you think? Do you think the new kid is a girl or a boy?" Ayumi asked excitedly.

"I think he's a boy." Mitsuhiko commented.

"She's a girl." Haibara said, fixed on the fashion magazine in her hands.

Conan blinked at her. When did she bring that? He slightly shook his head, dismissing the question. He doesn't want to know.

The detective boys closed the distance around them as their faces were a few centimeters apart from his and Haibara's faces. "How do you know the new student is a girl? Ne?" Ayumi questioned.

"Because she lives with me now." Haibara bluntly answered.

"What? Really?" Genta asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, she's a distance cousin." Haibara answered, her eyes still glued on the magazine before her.

"But why is she living with you?" Mitsuhiko inquired.

Haibara glanced at them before turning her gaze back to the fashion magazine. "Her mother is dead and her father is very ill* and is not physically and mentally able to take care of her. Her grand-parents live in a retirement home in America. One of my aunts and one of hers are unable to take care of her for some unknown reason. So Hakase agreed to take her in. So knowing that, please refrain from asking questions regarding her background or anything that might offend or make her sad."

Conan blinked at her. He honestly was surprised that she shared that information so fast and willingly. But then again, seeing the sad, pitied faces of the detective boys, he understood why, to keep them from asking unwanted questions. And Conan saw Kazuha act before; it was not good, almost as bad as Hattori's. Maybe he should call his mother to come and give Kamiko some acting lessons.

The class was shushed by Kobayashi-sensei and everyone sat in their seat without a word. "Okay, class, as you may know, we have a new student," Kobayashi-sensei announced. The kids in the class cheered excluding Conan and Haibara. "You can enter now."

The classroom door opened and Kamiko entered wearing a light pink skirt that reached her knees, and a white blouse. Her hair was braided into a slightly messy bun. Kamiko appearance looked like she was going to work in an office rather than simply going to school.

All the boys in the class excluding Conan, chorused "kawaii" at the sight of Kamiko. Conan leaned next to Haibara and muttered in annoyance to her, "Why couldn't you dress her up less formal than this?"

Haibara smirked. "Speak of the one who always wears a mini suit. Why? Simply because I wanted to and it was fun doing so. Why? Don't you find her cute?"

Conan rolled his eyes, muttering a quick "no" and leaned away from her. He looked up at Kamiko as introduced herself to the class. Than Kobayashi-sensei pointed her to her seat, right next to Ayumi.

He remembered Sunday, when Ran and Ochaan came back. Pretending to be the curious little kid he was, he asked them if there were any progress in finding Kazuha. They told him that she went onto a world tour with her mysterious boyfriend. He didn't know why, but when they told him that, Ran looked extremely furious. Like she was ready to karate chop anyone in that moment without warning.

Conan looked up at the ceiling, ignoring Kobayashi-sensei's lesson. He wondered how Hattori was holding. Kazuha has been gone for about six days now and with the news that she has a boyfriend. It must be harsh on him. Unknown to him, Hattori is currently breaking his pencils in half, in rage, ignoring his sensei's lesson.

School wrapped up quickly, and Conan and Haibara made their way to the detective boys that surrounded Kamiko. "Kamiko-chan, you should join the shouen tantei dan." Conan heard Ayumi tell Kamiko.

"Shouen tantei dan?" Kamiko repeated.

This time, Genta answered proudly. "Yeah, we solve cases all the time. You should join us."

Conan saw Kamiko look down as in thought. Then he saw her fist pumped with a broad smile, yelling 'yes, she'll join'. A smile tugged at his smile at Kamiko's effortless effort to act like a kid.

"Do you think she still needs acting lessons?" Haibara asked him, her voice low enough so only he could hear her.

Keeping his voice as low as Haibara's, he replied, "Fortunately, she and Hattori already are childish, so it should be easy for her to act like a kid around children. But I'm not so sure if she could keep the act up around adults. She almost blew her cover so many times at the mall last weekend. So, I'm still going to call my mom for her to come. And by the way Haibara, don't tell Kamiko that I'm doing this."

Haibara raised her eyebrows in suspicion. "Oh, why not?"

"Because I want to surprise her and…"

"And you just want to watch someone deal with your mother that's not you?"

A playful grin danced on Conan's lips as amusement shone in his blue eyes. "My, that will be funny to watch, but unfortunately my mom will notice me watching and force me to take her lessons. Despite all the acting lessons that she forced me to take from her," Conan shivered. "No, actually I don't want her to know about it and during the time till my mother gets here, to think she's only getting these lessons to deceive people. It will probably hurt her to know that." He finished softly.

Haibara only nodded in agreement and watched the kids talk with Kamiko about their awesome adventures they had and the cases. As much as Conan wanted to smile at this, he couldn't. To deceive people. A thing he and Haibara have been doing for a long time and now Kazuha. He wondered if he could ever deceive Hattori about Kazuha. It won't be long till Hattori comes and sees Kamiko and start connecting the dots. He really wanted to tell Hattori about this, but he wasn't sure how he'll handle it though. And Hattori almost always blew his cover and he couldn't afford Kamiko's cover to be blown. For now, he, no they, will have to lie to Hattori about this until they know Hattori could handle it or if anything major pops out of nowhere.

Conan followed the lot to Hakase's house where Hakase soon made another detective badge. They proceeded to tell Kamiko about the gadgets and everything. Conan smiled at the busy sight. He let his mind wonder about how life is going to be from this moment on.

* * *

Gin glared at the cell phone in his gloved hands. That woman makes absolutely no sense at all. They're fighting a gun now, a gun that could only shoot the silver bullet. Gin's eyes narrowed. The silver bullet, _him_. So the gun is someone who helps _him_ fight them. Well, it was no matter. The gun would be destroyed in no time.

Gin dialed a number and pressed the phone against his ear, getting inside his car. Once inside he lit a cigarette and the other lined picked up. The Porsche drove off.

* * *

A/N:* What I meant by ill was like her "father"got a disease that ended him up in the hospital or something like that. Not that he is mentally ill.

Well, I hoped you enjoyed this chapter, sorry, Hattori doesn't make another appearance or meets Kamiko till later. They will meet but not now... Well, i'm having a blast writing the next chapter, I'm so exited for it. ***grins evilly*** Thank ya'll for reading and following and favoring. I really appreciated it.


	7. Chapter 6

A Shrunken Life Ch.6 (I don't own Detective Conan)

A/N: I'm sooo sorry, I haven't updated in such a long time. I'm terrible sorry. The charger for my laptop got broken and we finally ordered a new and we just got a new one now. So I wasn't able to use my laptop at all and all my fanfictions are saved in here. And add it with a bit of laziness. But to make it all up, I wrote a long chapter, well I hope it's long, but its the longest chapter in this story so far. Please read and review and I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. And I'm going to try my hardest to get the next chapter up soon. So please enjoy.

* * *

Kamiko pressed her ear against the wooden door. She heard Conan's muffled voice through the door. She frowned, who is Conan talking to so secretly about and what about? It couldn't be Haibara or Hakase because Haibara is currently sitting in the living room and Hakase went out to get some items for his upcoming inventions. She could only guess that Conan is talking to someone on the phone. But who?

Kamiko listened more intently but she could hear broken words. "So…Willingly to…Come… Friday…Yeah…'kay…Thanks…Yeah…Love… Bye.'

She frowned then released her frown as soon as she heard footsteps coming through the door. Kamiko jumped back. Panic arisen in her in fear that Conan would caught her ears dropping. Kamiko quickly scrambled back to the living room and plopped down on the couch trying to act like she had been there the whole time.

Haibara sat on the chair sipping a cup of tea smirking at Kamiko. Kamiko quickly put a finger up to her lips silently begging Haibara not to tell Conan that she has been ears dropping on him this whole time.

Haibara shrugged calmly. Kamiko gave a short and quiet sigh at Haibara's "answer". She couldn't tell if that was a yes or a no and with Haibara, it's hard to tell.

Conan shortly entered the living room. He glanced at the two before shaking his head. Conan muttered something under his breath. Kamiko blinked at him wondering what he just said. Kamiko sank into the couch when she realized that Conan wasn't going to repeat what he just said.

"So tell me, why were you ears dropping on my conversation?" Conan asked her, his voice held no emotion.

"I wasn't ears dropping on ya' conversation." Kamiko defended, crossing her arms across her chest.

Conan raised an eyebrow at her. "Oh really? Do you actually expect me to believe that?"

As Conan sat in the couch across from Kamiko, she continued to defend herself. "Do ya' have any proof that I was ears dropping?"

"I could hear your soft breathing through the other side of the door and when I finished, I could hear you running away. Also, Haibara is a witness and you are a horrible actor, your guilty ridden face told me all." He finished.

Kamiko pouted and stuck her tongue out at Conan who just gave a small laugh. "So, who were talking ta' anyways?" She asked, after all, she was already caught.

"None of your business." Conan replied.

"C'mon, tell me please?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"It's personal."

"Is it?"

"Yes"

"Was it Ran-chan?" Kamiko taunted, holding a smug grin.

A faint blush had spread itself over Conan's cheeks. "No, it wasn't, it was someone else."

"Then who was it?"

"No one of importance. I have to get back to the agency now, so I'll see you two later." Conan stood up, nodding at Haibara and at Kamiko. He started to make his way to the front door.

But Kamiko wasn't going to let him go so easily. She jumped off the couch and quickly catches up to Conan before he got to the door. She tugged on his sleeve, prompting him to stop. Conan looked at her surprised. "What's wrong Kamiko-chan?"

"Let me go with ya' ta' the agency."

"To the agency? Why?"

Kamiko let out a smile." Because I want to see Ran-chan." As soon as she said those words, she saw Conan's facial expression. It seemed like it was telling her that he didn't want her to go. Before Conan could say anything back, Kamiko let out her question, "Why don't ya' want me ta' go?"

She heard a sigh come out of Conan's lips and him muttering, "Because you're not ready yet."

Kamiko tugged harder on Conan's sleeve. "What do ya' mean I'm not ready yet? I think I'm pretty capable of meeting Ran-chan."

"Are you sure? It's hard to pretend to act like you don't know someone when you really do?" Conan asked her.

Kamiko stopped, grasping the message he was giving her. She let go of Conan's sleeve and put her shoes on. She ignored Conan's protest as she stepped out of the house. That won't stop her from seeing her friend. She knew she wasn't the greatest actor in the world, but she knew she could at least keep her identity a secret.

Memories of the recent trip to the mall resurfaced in her mind, Kamiko shook her head to get those memories out her head. Well, at least she could try.

Kamiko stopped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked over it to see Conan. "Hey, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to offend you. But Ran is still mad about you know…"

A smile placed itself over Kamiko's lips. "It's okay, but I'm still going. I promise I won't reveal my identity." She saw Conan roll his eyes with a small grin placed on his face.

The two resumed walking, in silence. The sun's light began to fade into the rising of the night sky. Cars passed by, people on the streets hurried on their way, most probably on their way to get home to make or have dinner. Clouds started to crowd the sky.

The peaceful silence broke as Kamiko spoke, "Hey, Conan-kun. I've been wondering for a while now. What about ya' parents?" She looked at Conan who had his hands behind his head. He glanced at her.

"What about my parents?"

"Do ya' parents know about ya', ya' know…?"

Conan put his hands into his pockets. A pregnant pause passed by. "Unfortunately, they do."

Kamiko felt stunned, the she felt her anger rise within her. So why did Conan tell her that she couldn't tell her parents no matter what even though his parents knew about his condition? Kamiko was about to voice her thoughts but Conan put out a hand, stopping her from doing so.

"I said unfortunately. I never intended on telling them nor did I ever. Hakase was the one who told them without my consent. And my parents, being who they are and wanting to make sure if what Hakase said is true, they kidnapped me. A cruel joke, so once I figured out that they were my actual parents, I was not happy. But I guessed they understood that they couldn't tell anyone about my condition and that this was my mess to clean up. And besides I don't live with my parents and they live America, but your parents who you lived with about your entire life and a dad who is in the police would take a different route rather than what my parents did." Conan explained.

Kamiko took all the information in, understanding the reason why Conan would tell her not to tell her parents. She didn't know Conan's parents but she did know hers and she recognized that yes, her parents would've done something completely different than what Conan's parents did. "Oh," Was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

They soon reached the detective agency, it was dark out. The two went upstairs to the actual agency and entered. They found Kogoro sprawled on the couch with a beer in his hands. Ran was scolding him and picking up trash.

"Taidama." Conan yelled out in his kiddy voice.

"Oh welcome home, Conan-kun." Ran spun around to face Conan smiling sweetly then her gaze dropped onto Kamiko, her smile still there. "Who's your friend Conan-kun?"

Conan glanced at her. "This is my new classmate, Nakomoto Kamiko and a recent addition to the detective boys."

Kamiko bowed slightly, giving a small hello. "There's no need to be shy, I'm Mouri Ran and this man on the couch is Mouri Kogoro." Ran growled at the end of her sentence. "Well, Kamiko-chan, would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Sure, thank you Ran-oneesan." Kamiko answered, feeling weird that she just called Ran-chan sister, and that she'd going to have to continue to call her that. She felt bad for Conan for a different reason. The three went upstairs where Ran went into the kitchen to get dinner made.

"So, Kamiko-chan, where are you living now?"Ran asked.

"Oh, I'm living with Haibara-chan and Hakase."

"With Hakase and Ai-chan?"

"Yeah, it's a long story." Kamiko replied and Ran seemed to get it, not asking any more questions.

Kamiko looked down; she couldn't but help but feel blue about her whole situation. This is not what she wanted at all.

* * *

**Friday**

Kamiko got dressed into jeans, a light-blue T and she brushed her hair. Since she turned chibi, she wasn't allowed to put her up in a ponytail like she usually did and was forced to keep it down, only rarely was she allowed to put it in a bun. She sighed about her hair then left and went into the living room to grab her school bag. Only to find her bag not there and Haibara, wearing her lab coat, sitting on the couch drinking on what Kamiko assumed was tea. "Hey, Haibara, where's my bag and why are you in your lab coat?"

"Well, I'm wearing my lab coat because I'm going to continue to do my research today and your bag, well, it's not here at the moment because you're not going to school today." Haibara answered as is it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Kamiko blinked. They weren't going to school today? "Why aren't we going ta' school today?"

Haibara held three fingers up, her mouth mouthing the numbers from three to one. A door opened then closed again. Then, "Mom! Put me down now!" Kamiko heard Conan shout.

A woman with long blonde hair, a bit of it curled, wearing a red V-neck shirt with dark blue skinny jeans, came in holding a struggling Conan. The woman pouted. "C'mon, don't be like that Shin-chan. Let mommy hold you for a bit. I never get to see you Shin-chan."

"No. Put me down and stop calling me Shin-chan." Conan demanded.

Kamiko watched the mother and her son bicker with each other. Kamiko just stood there surprised. Is that Conan's, no, Shinichi's mother? But they don't resemble each other, other than having the same blue eyes. And she looked so young too.

Feeling three sets of eyes on her, Kamiko realized that she must have been voicing her thoughts. Because, the woman had put down Conan and put her hands over her cheeks in a shock matter and began to gush. "Did you hear that Shin-chan? She says I look young, and she's so right, I am very young. And of course, Shinichi inherited his beautiful blue eyes from mine of course…" The woman continued on.

Conan came to her and apologized. "Sorry for that. Mom can be full of herself sometimes. But yeah that is, unfortunately, is my mother."

"'Unfortunately'? You should be glad I'm your mother and that you're even in this world. And 'full of herself'? I'm not full of myself." Conan's mother ranted, grabbing her son and gave him a noggie.

Kamiko couldn't help but laugh at the sight. "This is the reason why you're skipping school today. Kudo-chan's going to give you acting lessons." Haibara told her.

"She is?" Kamiko remembered that Kudo Shinichi's mother is the retired actress Kudo Yukiko. "Yeah. She was the one who I was talking to on Tuesday, the conversation you were ears dropping on. I called her to give you acting lessons since you need them. Mom, this is Toyama Kazuha or her alias Nakomoto Kamiko. Toyama-chan, this is my mother, Kudo Yukiko."

"It's nice ta' meet ya' Kudo-chan." Kamiko said, using the same honorific Haibara used when she talked about the woman.

"It's nice to meet you too Kamiko-chan. But please, call me Yukiko-oneechan." Yukiko cheerfully said.

Kamiko blinked. "Okay, Yu-Yukiko-oneechan."

"Before we actually begin the acting lessons, we first need to get rid of your accent. We don't people to know you're from Osaka and make the connection. Have you talked to anyone that you knew from beforehand?"

"Yeah, I talked to Ran-chan on Tuesday as Kamiko." Kamiko answered.

Yukiko frowned then smiled. "Well, we could convince her that you never spoke Kansai-ben. Okay, now if I could only get my son to speak it perfectly."

"Hey, I could speak in Kansai-ben just fine." Conan exclaimed as he and Haibara went down in the basement.

Yukiko giggled and straightened herself. A dreaded feeling overcame Kamiko, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

Kamiko jumped up and down, a huge excited smile was plastered on her face, and her fists were bunched up. "Yay! We're going to get ice cream." She stopped jumping and began placed her hands on her chest, above her heart, and began to sway, all dramatic and she started to sing, well, more like chant, "I love ice cream! Ice cream is the most wonderful thing in the whole world. I just love ice cream. We all love ice cream. It's better than cheesecake but cheesecake is still awesome."

In a quick second, from Kaimko's happy smile, she pouted, fake tears streamed down her face. "But, but, you promised you'll get me ice cream. You promised! So why, why can't you get me it? It's so unfair." The tears stopped but her eyes were still watery and Kamiko stared at the floor dejectedly.

"And stop." Yukiko's voice rolled out and Kamiko wiped her eyes with her hands. "That was wonderful. I think I just adopted my own protégée." Yukiko squealed in absolute delight.

Kamiko nodded at the retired actress. "Thank you." She felt exhausted. They took four hours to get her stop speaking in Kansai-ben. The hardest four hours of her life and those four hours lingered on like it was a decade. Then after those dreadful four hours, they actually started the acting lessons. Yukiko started teaching about voice and volume, then body movement, then improvising and more. The two had started at seven; thirty in the morning and now it was almost five. They only took one break and that was for lunch. All of them, Kamiko, Yukiko, Haibara, Conan, and Hakase(who had been down in the basement with Conan and Haibara the whole time) but after that, they went straight back to the acting lessons.

"Yukiko-oneechan, can we take a break now?" Kamiko looked up at Yukiko with pleading eyes.

Yukiko looked down at Kamiko with soft eyes and walked over to the nearest couch and sat down. Kamiko followed her and sat beside her. "You know, you'll never be able to stop acting." Yukiko softly said.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Yukiko's gaze seemed to be distant. "Meaning, that since you stepped down on this fate, you'll always have to act and you can never stop, no matter how tiring it is. This is how my son's living and he's always hiding his true emotions behind a mask. A mask that if taken off, he would break, but sometimes I wish he'll show me, the feelings he's hiding, so I can help him. I want to help him so badly but he won't allow me, that is why, whenever he…"

Yukiko got up all suddenly, a bright smile on her face. "You know a break from all this acting lessons sounds good. How about I call the others and go to a restaurant for dinner? After all you deserve it." Yukiko cheerfully suggested and left to the basement.

Kamiko was left on the couch by herself surprised on how quickly Yukiko could change her emotions. Kamiko smiled. Yukiko really did care about her son and wanted to help him. To Kamiko, it seemed like Yukiko would do anything if it meant that it would help her son. She wondered if her parents would act like Yukiko in this situation or would they act like what they all assumed to be the way her parents would act like.

Kamiko noticed the others making their way up into the living room lead by Yukiko. None of them heard the front door open and closed.

Kamiko went towards them. "I hope you guys made any process."

Conan stretched. "I hope so, I'm gonna be pissed if I made my body sore for nothing."

"Well, next time, it going to be her turn." Haibara said coldly.

Kamiko grimaced. She was still not looking forward to being tested on. The idea of it made her feel sick.

Yukiko clasped her hands. "Well, I and Kazuha-chan here made lots of process." She exclaimed excitedly.

"Kazuha?!" A shout echoed throughout the whole house. Everyone froze at the voice. They all knew who owned the voice that had Kansai-ben in it. They all turned to see Hattori standing there.


End file.
